The iron rotors of the attack helicopters thrummed and roared, their deafening broadcasts blasting directly at Roger.
“This is the United States Department of Land Resources and Extraterrestrial Defense. You must cease all resistance immediately, place your hands behind your head, and lie face-down on the ground. Otherwise, we will consider you—”
The cacophony of the broadcast and the frantic whirring of the rotors irritated Roger.
*This is international waters, a no-man’s-land.
Why the hell is the world’s police force here sticking their noses in my business?*
*Could it be…*
*Because of this?*
Roger glanced at the mysterious mineral beside him.
Sensing his body heat, the mineral began to pulse with a red glow again.
*If this thing is stimulated into releasing its radiation energy, I’ll be at a massive loss!* Roger thought.
*I absolutely cannot let these bastards take advantage of me.*
But he couldn’t store the mineral in his portable warehouse right now.
He could only pick it up by hand after the exploration ended and bring it back to the main world before spending extra US dollars to place it in the warehouse.
Roger sighed in frustration.
After a few dozen seconds of thought, he decided to teach these ignorant Yanks a lesson in the *Art of War*.
***
With a slight squeeze of his palm, Roger instantly absorbed the mineral’s imminent radiation burst into his body.
The next moment, a terrifying airburst sent the two nearby attack helicopters spiraling away.
In a flash, Roger froze the hovering helicopters in mid-air, snapped off their rotors, and flung them down to obliterate the destroyer’s gun turrets.
Then, he soared into the sky, clutching the mineral as he shot up to an altitude of ten thousand meters.
Even before obtaining the mineral, Roger could fly at four times the speed of sound using only his psychic power.
Now, having absorbed a massive amount of mental radiation energy, his speed far surpassed what it had been ten days ago.
Unlike other psychic awakeners, Roger possessed a physique even more powerful than the Hulk’s.
He was completely unfazed by the fierce winds and freezing temperatures at ten thousand meters, as well as the scorching heat generated by air friction during supersonic flight.
All that excess energy was simply absorbed into his body, stored away.
But the mysterious mineral was gradually disintegrating during the supersonic flight.
By the time Roger noticed, it had shrunk to a size about two meters long, just enough for a person to wrap their arms around.
After stripping away its outer shell, the remaining core had the texture of agate, but its surface was now etched with crystalline patterns.
It seemed the previous crystalline layer had merely been a cloak, and only now was its true form being revealed.
It glowed with a more brilliant crimson and a deeper azure.
Roger could feel the radiation energy in his arms growing even more violent, now more than ten times stronger than before.
Within just a few dozen minutes, Roger felt a wave of intoxication wash over him.
This place was thousands of kilometers further than before, right in the heart of the ocean.
Roger let out a sigh of relief and lay on the beach, quietly admiring the beautiful masterpiece.
Gradually, Roger fell into a deep sleep.
Suddenly, his terrifying psychic power surged out of control, sweeping across the land.
Everything within a radius of several kilometers was crushed flat, leaving behind a surface as smooth as a mirror.
***
*Boom!
Bang!
BOOM—*
Roger was jolted awake by the terrifying explosions and thunderous roars.
He shot up and saw over a dozen destroyers encircling the entire island.
Their countless muzzles spewed fire, raining shells down on him.
Yet, everything was halted ten kilometers away.
An invisible barrier blocked every attack, letting only the shockwaves from the massive explosions through—which was what had finally roused Roger from his slumber.
In a mere instant, Roger could sense everything within a radius of seven or eight thousand meters: shells detonating against his psychic power, flames scorching it, seawater, fine sand, and the flattened remains of trees and plants…
“Surrender the mineral, or we will launch our most fierce assault!” A piercing voice from a loudspeaker broadcasted from all directions.
Roger frowned, feeling a massive headache coming on.
*The movie never mentioned the Navy!
Why is it that as soon as I took this mineral, so many American destroyers came chasing me?*
Instantly, a conspiracy theory flashed through Roger’s mind: the protagonist group might just be three lab rats.
The so-called “superpower awakening opportunity” was likely nothing more than an experiment by some mysterious department.
If that were the case, everything would make sense.
It explained why these US warships were relentlessly pursuing him, refusing to let go.
The reason was simple: Roger had taken the most crucial mineral from their experiment—the one capable of awakening psychic powers.
With a casual wave of his hand, Roger swept his arm overhead in a fluid arc.
The surrounding seawater churned as if caught in a tornado, spinning and surging upward to form a miniature waterspout.
*Boom—!*
The water erupted violently, tossing the warships about and sending countless sprays of saltwater into the air, creating a localized rainstorm.
Seizing the opportunity, Roger soared tens of thousands of meters into the sky.
At this altitude, almost nothing could threaten his safety.
And anything that *could* pose a threat would also destroy the mysterious mineral.
***
Meanwhile, in an office in the United States…
“Sir! The target has stopped and is hovering 30,000 meters above the ground. What are our orders?” a general asked, analyzing the current situation on a projection screen as he sought instructions from the man seated at the center of the conference table.
“The subjects for this experiment were all strictly screened,” the man replied.
“Setting aside how he awakened his psychic powers so early, his growth rate alone… We must capture him alive. The success of the Super Psychic Warrior project depends entirely on him.”
“Bring him in alive, or bring me his corpse!” the white-haired man said, his voice calm and unhurried.
His gaze sharpened as he stared fixedly at the projection, where Roger’s leisurely figure was visible.
At that moment, Roger—the target of the United States—suddenly felt a pang of apprehension and immediately dove toward the ground.
He had a gut feeling that the Yanks might try to blast him into the ocean with some new type of missile.
He couldn’t stay in the sky as a sitting duck; he needed to find a U.S. military base.
That way, they wouldn’t dare make a move against him.
Wasting no time, Roger clutched the mineral, tore through layer after layer of clouds, and soared through the sky several hundred meters up, searching for his ideal destination.
As an excellent youth who had completed his nine-year compulsory education, Roger adhered to the “survivalist” philosophy—focusing solely on his own development and refusing to get involved in the chaotic affairs of the mortal world.
He would only stay at any single military base for a few hours.
The moment they deployed heavy firepower, he would promptly flee and head for another location.
Though this constant movement was exhausting, time here flowed much faster than in the main world.
Roger still had ample time to train his psychic power.
In fact, this endless game of cat and mouse was causing his psychic control proficiency to skyrocket, leading to an astonishing growth rate.
Meanwhile, the old bones on Capitol Hill were arguing themselves hoarse, each one screaming for the use of hydrogen bombs to blow Roger to smithereens.
But what was the cost?
A major military base and the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers.
Was that even possible?
Roger simply couldn’t believe they would be so insane, nor would those soldiers agree to be sent to their deaths for nothing.
Besides, Roger only stayed for a few hours each time, and his next destination was completely random.
It wasn’t always a Bald Eagle military base; sometimes it was right on top of Capitol Hill.
That day, Roger had just acted on a whim.
With a *bam*, he appeared right above their heads.
Within ten seconds, alarms blared throughout the entire District of Columbia.
The congressmen scrambled in all directions, fleeing in panic, which actually made Roger feel a bit awkward.
He didn’t know if they had been terrified, but he had just come to take a look.
He didn’t recognize anyone in this movie world; it must be a completely different universe.